Change
by nishatrix
Summary: Clace AU - Clary and Jace in the mundane world.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Er, I wrote a thing. I didn't really know what genre to list it under, so I put humor. I'm sorry you won't laugh. **

**Disclaimer: Characters, including –sadly– Jace, belong to Cassandra Clare.**

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Clary Fray had never been so nervous in her life as she was in that moment.

College was such a foreign concept to her. It was a foreign concept to anybody really, and her therapist that her mother, Jocelyn, had seen fit to send her to, had said it would be easier to get over her grief faster if she went back to normal life.

Normal life was now completely out of reach for her however. The very idea of doing something and not having Simon beside her –

_No_, she thought forcefully. _I will not think of Simon._

Shouldering her backpack, she walked into NYU, heading towards the art department.

Doing her best not to get trampled by the stream of students heading to their classes, she turned into an astoundingly empty corridor and turned another corner, smacking right into someone's chest with such force that she fell back, hitting the cold stone floor.

She heard someone laugh above her and then a hand was held out in front of her face. She looked up and glared, into the face of a very golden boy. For real. From his brilliant gold hair that fell around his face to his honey gold skin and as she scrambled to her feet –blatantly ignoring his outstretched hand– she noticed that even his eyes were a soft gold.

Clary did her best not to stare at him, to maintain her angry composure and ignore the itch in her hand to whip out her sketch pad and pencil so she could draw him.

"Sorry. Wasn't really paying attention to much," he said, not sounding in the least bit apologetic but more amused. He was grinning, holding up a book that he had apparently been reading.

Tolstoy. He read Tolstoy. _Of course he read Tolstoy._

"It's fine," she heard herself say, not sounding as angry as she had first intended to be.

"Further proof that you shouldn't read and walk. You look lost. Need some help?" he asked.

"Er, no. I mean yes. I mean –" she wasn't sure why she couldn't form a coherent sentence but Golden Boy just grinned wider.

"It's alright. My stunningly good looks tend to rend people speechless most of the time anyway."

His tone was light, but Clary had a really hard time believing that he meant it as a joke.

She could feel herself rolling her eyes. "A bit full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Not bragging if it's the truth," he said quickly.

"Anyone ever told you that you're quite arrogant?" she asked him. She was mildly shocked at herself. She was _never_ this rude. Not to complete strangers anyway. She could practically hear Jocelyn telling her off for such rudeness.

Golden Boy didn't look offended though. "Nearly everyone I meet," he told her, once again sticking out his hand towards her. "Jace."

She shook it and nearly jerked her hand away. It was warm and soft but a spark of electricity seemed to travel from her fingers all the way to her back. Jace –what kind of name was Jace?– seemed to feel it to because he gave a slight start.

"I'm Clary."

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**A/N: So yeah. That's the thing I wrote. I know it's ridiculously short and I'm not sure about continuing it or whatever. I sort of had it in my mind as a one-shot. But, I don't know. Let me know what you guys think. In the reviews. Where you can tell me. What you think. Oh angel, I need sleep. I'm leaving now.**

**Reviews is not waiting until August for the movie. (IS IT AUGUST YET I MEAN SERIOUSLY)**

_Love and oranges, _

_Nisha._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So basically, you guys left me reviews telling me to continue this story and well, ta-da! Here it is. Also, thank you to those who reviewed, favourited and followed. **

**Shoutout to **_**heyitsmalec**_**, **_**ShadowhunterMae**_** and **_**Scythe Rabbits. **_**Much appreciated. **

**Disclaimer : Cassie Clare owns these characters and your soul.**

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Once Clary had found her class, which she was 5 minutes late for, she sat at the back of the lecture hall and tried despite her best attempts to not block out her lecturer.

_Who needs lectures on art anyway? _She thought as she finally admitted defeat and took her sketchbook out of her bag.

Opening up to a blank sheet, she started drawing the outlines of Gold –Jace– first.

For the next 20 minutes of her class, Clary attempted to draw Jace and with every passing minute, she grew more frustrated.

Angular face, sharp cheeckbones, long lashes and beautiful tumbling hair, this should be simple.

She's been drawing since before she could talk. It was like breathing to her.

Her mother was a famous artist. Her paintings frequented art galleries all over New York and were sold at ridiculous prices.

It was in her DNA.

So what was it about this drawing that stumped her?

She wished now, that she had accepted his offer on walking her to her class so she could have studied his face more.

For her drawing purposes, obviously.

"_What if you get lost on the way? You might think you're heading the right direction but what if you suddenly end up in the engineering department?_

"_Why would I end up in the engineering department?"_

"_No reason," he had said, grinning. _

"Alright!" said her lecturer, Professor Davidson, jarring her out of her thoughts. "Lovely meeting you all. Till next time."

Giving an irritated sigh, Clary shoved her sketchbook and pencil back into her backpack, slung it against her shoulder and walked out of the class.

She looked around, not quite sure where to go.

She had a two hour break until her next class –The Art of Sculpting– and she didn't know what to do with her time.

If Simon were here, _NO_.

But the memories rose to her mind, unbidden.

_The bright headlights of the car. Simon's hands shoving her out of the way. The sound of his body impacting with the car. The blood. The driver, yelling into his phone. The flashing lights of the ambulance and the wailing of the sirens. _

Clary shook her head, as if the memories would fly out of her head.

She looked around her and realized she had been walking without realizing it and that her feet had carried her to an empty corridor.

Of course, an empty corridor was nothing of any interest to most people but Clary had never been part of the _most people _crowd.

There was nothing spectacular about this corridor. It didn't lead anywhere as far as she could see. In fact, she had no idea how she ended up there in the first place.

She sat down with her back against a wall and resumed her drawing of Jace.

However after 15 minutes of this, she proceeded to tear the sheet of paper away in an act of frustration.

Crumpling it in her hands, she dumped it into her bag along with her sketchpad and was wondering where she should go when she heard a voice. Someone was coming.

She stood up, not sure where to go but she didn't see anyone heading into the corridor even though she could clearly hear his voice and so decided to remain where she was.

She could hear what he was saying, evidently into his phone since there was only one voice.

"Yes Father, I understand. No it's not like th-"

"Yes Sir."

_Sir? Wow, his dad must be some sort army man or something. Like mine was, _Clary thought.

The conversation seemed to be over and Clary wondered if the boy had gone.

Whatever the case, she didn't feel like sitting in the empty corridor anymore and so began walking back towards the main halls.

Turning the corner, she saw the boy slumped against the wall and thought crazily if he was dead when he couldn't possibly be since she saw his chest moving and had heard him talk less than a minute ago.

_Simon was talking to you at the time but he still died, didn't he? _

"Um, hello?"

The boy jumped so suddenly that Clary stumbled back and upon seeing her, he rose to his feet in one swift graceful motion.

_How annoying. _

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him.

He was beautiful in the way boys are usually not. Pale skin, high cheekbones and platinum hair that gave his skin some colour, he looked like something out of a painting. His eyes were charcoal black.

"Er, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," he said.

"It's alright," Clary said. "Even though I was the one that startled you in the first place."

He smiled. "So, what exactly were you doing in an abandoned corridor?"

"Um, I just sort of ended up there and I didn't really know where to go. I'm, uh, new here."

"I can tell. Well if you want, you can come hang out with me and my friends. One of them just started out here as well. She could do with the company actually, considering she's surrounded by boys most of the time," he said looking rather protective. As if any boy that spoke to this "friend" of his was not worthy.

Clary felt a sudden urge to take the boy on his offer despite the fact that he was a total stranger and she had no idea who his friends were but an ache to be accepted somewhere, to feel like she _belonged_ overcame her.

She was tired of being that girl in the neighbourhood where the kids whispered how _her bestfriend had died_ and _ohh that poor girl it must be so hard for her because she saw it happen right in front of her eyes, didn't it?_

"Only if your friends won't mind," she said.

He grinned at her. "They won't. It will be nice. I'm Jonathan," he said, sticking his hand out.

She took it.

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**A/N: Before everyone freaks out, please remember that this is an AU. Okay, thanks. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

**R/R:** **Guest1**(thank you! I hope you like Chapter 2!) **Sara**(Thanks sweetie! I know there is actually no Clace in this, but I promise good things for Chapter 3) **Tamara**(Thank you so much!) **Guest2**(Thanks!Hope you like chapter 2!) **Clara**(Much appreciated love!)

**Reviews = sexy vampire mojo. **

_Love and oranges,_

_Nisha._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh hi there. Please don't stab me with your seraph blades for being the worst author who sucks at updating her fics much faster.**

**Thanks to the lovely Shadowhunters or Downworlders who read, reviewed, and favourited. I love you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I really wish I was Cassandra Clare so I don't have to do these disclaimer things.**

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"Alright Jonathan. I'm going on a limb with the whole being your new friend thing since you're a complete stranger. You could be an axe swinging murderer for all I know," Clary said to Jonathan, who was walking beside her.

He walked leisurely, someone who wasn't in a rush to go anywhere but he had rather long legs and Clary still had to strain to keep up with him.

"Well Clarissa-"

"Clary," she cut him off. "Clarissa is just so, _formal._"

"But as you pointed out however, we are practically strangers. Formality tends to tie together with strangers," he said to her.

Clary was so distracted by the silkiness of his voice, she didn't reply to his statement immediately.

Before she could though, he said, "And I quite like your full name. Clarissa. It has a nice sound to it. It's so –_sophisticated_."

She turned her head to look at him. "_Sophisticated?_ Oh, and nice dodge from answering my axe swinging murderer theory."

"What's wrong with sophisticated? And I was going to say that I doubted axe swinging murderers study engineering at NYU, but I was interrupted," he said, turning his head to grin at her.

In the few short minutes of talking with him, Clary had decided that she rather liked Jonathan. He was charming, witty and it didn't hurt that he wasn't too bad on the eyes either.

"Alright, so we're not strangers. So what do I call you? John?" she asked him.

His face scrunched up and she laughed. "It's Jonathan. I don't really respond to anything else. Especially not _John."_

"What's wrong with John?" she said.

"Well for one, I look nothing like a John," he said.

"But you look like a Jonathan."

He grinned. "Precisely. I think you'll fit along great with my friends."

"Well that's good to hear," she told him. They were heading towards the cafeteria where Jonathan had said his friends were and Clary felt like there were snake writhing in her stomach.

_Oh god, what if they hate me?_ She thought.

"So, tell me a bit about them. Your friends."

"Well, Isabelle just started here like you. She's taking fashion designing. She's actually quite good. And Alec is-"

"Wait, is it Alec or _Alex_?"

"It's Alec. His full name is Alexander but for as long as I can remember, everyone's always called him Alec. He's a year older than me. Just barely. Like me, he's engineering major, but he's in electrical engineering."

"How many types of engineering are there?"

"Well, there's four but they all sort of branch out. For instance, electrical engineering focuses on electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic or electromechanical devices and basically all sorts of electronic devices. Alec's power lies with the computer systems," he said, shooting her a sideways glance. "I hope I'm not boring you."

"No, no. This actually really interesting. So, what type of engineer are you?"

"Me? I'm in mechanical engineering. It's power and energy systems like, aerospace and aircraft products, weapon systems, transportation products, engines, compressors and powertrains. All heavy stuff."

"Let me guess, your forte is in, hmmm, transportation?"

He smiled and shook his head, no.

"Uhm, airplanes?"

"Aerospace and aircraft. And no, that is definitely not my strong suit. Okay, so last guess."

"Wait, why is there a limit to my guesses?"

"Of course there's a limit. There's almost always a limit. So, last guess?"

"Okay, okay. Uhm, powertrains?"

"Powertrains? Your last guess, and you guess _powertrains_?"

"Fine. I forfeit. What is it?"

He grinned. "Weapon systems."

"_Weapon systems_? Well, I don't think I'd have guessed that."

"See, that's why there's a guess limit. We'd have been here all day otherwise."

She shoved him playfully, her shoulder hitting his upper arm.

"Yeah, my friend and I take the same course. Weapons as well. He's Alec and Isabelle's brother."

"Siblings. I've always wanted a sibling."

Yeah, but Jace is adopted though. There they are," Jonathan said, indicating the three figures standing outside the cafeteria.

Clary's eyes widened at the sight of Jace, his gold hair shining in the sunlight.

"Well, well," he said when he saw her, "Nice to bump into you again Clary."

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**A/N: Yay! New chapter. Okay, this one was really weird to write, not going to lie.**

R/R: **Guest**(I know, I know. No Clace. Next chapter, I promise!)**Trish**(Yeah, I know. Sorry :/)**Rg**(Thank you!)**Guest**(yeah, she saw it. It hurt her badly. Thank you so much!)

**Reviews = Jace's mango.**

_Love and oranges,_

_Nisha._


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